Fragrant Amaranth Granola

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1.5 cups popped amaranth
• 1/2 teaspoon pure bourbon vanilla powder
• 1/3 cup crushed raw pistachios
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup Pure Maple Syrup or Brown Rice Malt Syrup
• 1/4 cup tahini (runny, middle eastern tahini, not thick tahini butter)
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or rose water

Directions

1. Combine rolled oats, popped amaranth, vanilla and pistachios in a large bowl

2. In a small pot over low heat, combine maple or brown rice syrup and tahini until well incorporated, about 2 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and stir in orange blossom or rose water.

4. Pour liquid mixture over dry mixture and stir with a spatula to combine. It should start to stick together loosely at this point.

5. Spread mixture in a single flat compact layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake on center rack for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, break up into large chunks and flip. Return to oven and continue to bake for about 5 minutes then give it a good stir (at this point you should have nice clumps of granola) and return it to oven for an additional 5 minutes, keeping a close eye on it. It should turn to a golden color, but you don’t want it to brown too much or burn.

6. Bake times may vary by oven so adjust as required.

7. Remove from oven, stir in cranberries (you could choose to bake the cranberries as well, but they will harden a bit as the granola cools, so it’s best to stir them in afterward if you want them to stay soft).

8. Let cool complete and store in air tight jars for optimal freshness. It should keep for a couple of weeks, if you don’t eat it all first.